Quitting smoking after a heart disease diagnosis can cut your odds for heart attack or heart-related death by 44% over five years No reduction in these risks was observed among smokers who just cut back on their smoking A heart disease diagnosis could be a critical time to urge smokers to finally kick the habit THURSDAY, Aug. 29, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Smokers who quit the habit soon after being diagnosed with heart disease saw their odds for heart attack or death drop by almost half over the next five years, a new report found. However, those who simply cut back on their smoking saw no risk reduction at all, the same study showed.
“I like to tell my patients that it is never too soon or too late to stop smoking, though the sooner a patient stops, the better to lower cardiovascular risk. And it is not enough to reduce smoking," said study lead author , of the Hospital Bichat-Claude Bernard in Paris. His team presented its findings Thursday in London at the annual meeting of the (ESC).
Smoking has long been a big risk factor for heart trouble, and many heart patients may believe it's too late to bother to quit. Not so, found the new study, which tracked the health outcomes of more than 32,000 people diagnosed with heart disease over five years. Close to 15,000 had smoked at some point in their lives and just over 4,000 were current smokers.
About three-quarters of the former smokers who'd been smokers at the time their doctor told them they had heart disease made the withi.